New Tank

sly65sally200

sly65sally200

Member
Alright, I am new to this and need some seriuos help. I did this on a whim, because an offer came up I couldn't pass.
I am getting a 100+ gallon tank, with 100 pounds of live rock and over 20 different corals. I will come with some saltwater fish. It will be a four hour drive to pick up the tank and live stock. I need advice on how to move the tank. What do I need to purchase? I will have someone to help me set it up, but I need advise on how to transport everything here. Thanks
 
mie

mie

Active Member
Transport the fish in poly bags like the pet store use's, Use rubbermaid style totes for the rock, (keep it as wet as possible) Wet newspaper. Keep as much tank water as you can, Transport in buckets with lids or in those 5 gal water jugs.
 
T

tmy880

Guest
Originally Posted by sly65sally200
Alright, I am new to this and need some seriuos help. I did this on a whim, because an offer came up I couldn't pass.
I am getting a 100+ gallon tank, with 100 pounds of live rock and over 20 different corals. I will come with some saltwater fish. It will be a four hour drive to pick up the tank and live stock. I need advice on how to move the tank. What do I need to purchase? I will have someone to help me set it up, but I need advise on how to transport everything here. Thanks
Gas powered generator, enough fuel for the generator to work non stop the whole trip and the car your driving to drive non stop the whole trip.
Probably two 55 gallon Rubbermaid trash cans with lids.
Two heaters for live rock and Corals to survive in trash cans (powered by said generator.)
2 powerheads (each trash can) minimum for rock and corals to survive (powered by said generator.)
Other than that, move livestock and rock to said Rubbermaid trashcans, fill up with previous owners saltwater, after same temp determined by the designated tank is equal to the temp in the Rubbermaid trashcans.
Move tank by your method of travel, and pack up all accessories.
Dont worry about extra water that can be thrown away after rock and corals and such are covered with DT's water.
Add above said fish to trashcans.
Drive as fast as you can to your domicile.
Place newly bought tank in destinaiton, fill up tank with premixed, temperature ready water into tank.
Place LR in tank.
Acclimate corals.
Place old water into tank continuing acclimation.
Add corals after acclimation.
Enjoy new tank!!!
 
sly65sally200

sly65sally200

Member
Will I really need a generator to move everything? Is there some other way to move items without generator. Someone told me that I need need any other water other than want's in the sump. That I can cover the rocks with newpaper...place corals and fish in bags. Then, I can reset everything up upon my arrival...Add new water...said saltwater tanks don't need to cycle like freshwater? Thanks for input.
 
grumpygils

grumpygils

Active Member
Originally Posted by sly65sally200
Will I really need a generator to move everything? Is there some other way to move items without generator. Someone told me that I need need any other water other than want's in the sump. That I can cover the rocks with newpaper...place corals and fish in bags. Then, I can reset everything up upon my arrival...Add new water...said saltwater tanks don't need to cycle like freshwater? Thanks for input.
Salt water tanks DO cycle and this process could do it!
No generator needed. Will the rock and fish be inside the car/Van or outside. I assume inside? If so, I would:
Put corals in 2 or 3 5g buckets with water and lid. LFS will have plenty extra for free.
Put fish in separate 5 g bucket
Put Live rock in 1 or 2 big rubber maid with wet towles. Newspaper can stick and fall apart and is hard to pick out.
Leave Live sand in aquarium
When you get to the house.
Transfer fish, and coral to large rubbermaid and fill with previous tank water, get powerhead, thermometer and heater so it could run for several days if it had to.
Put what ever water you can back in the tank from previous tank, Put in all live rock. Do not worry about how it looks yet. Top off with premade RO salt water. Start all filters and pumps and check all. Let run. If all is done right, it should not cycle. I think a lot depends on the condition of the live sand.
I would run the rubbermaid coral and fish aquarium until the DT water is clear and all is working well. You need to test it for SG, Ammonia and Nitrate prior to adding the fish at a minimum. If those are high, do not put in the coral and fish. It is in a mini cycle.
Beware to not get impatient and pop in all of the coral and fish just becasue it looks good. 20 peices of coral is probably worth over $500.
Good Luck!
Mc
 
mie

mie

Active Member
Originally Posted by tmy880
I still say you need a generator.
Just my two cents:
How is this even posible without dying of carbon monixde poisoning? And it is not needed, I did this with a 92 from seattle to portland and from breakdown time to pluging everything back in was 7 plus hours. All creatures were fine. Seriously please be careful when recomending someone doing somthing this can and is usually fatal.
 
T

tmy880

Guest
Then maybe an rechargable electric generator of some kind to plug in the heaters and pumps. This way we dont have to worry about carbon monoxide.
 
mie

mie

Active Member
If heat lose would be an issue inside a vehicle at 75 to 80 degrees, Use those hand warmers, Just place one in between the bags.
 
sly65sally200

sly65sally200

Member
Okay from the replies I have received. This is what I have gathered.
Okay, so for a list of items I need for the trip.
I need about 4 5gallon buckets with lids, which I can get from the local fish store for free...I will use these for coral and fish, filled with water from the tank.
I will need 2 big rubbermaid bins for the 100 pounds of live rock, which I can just cover with towels, (CLOTH TOWELS OR PAPER TOWELS?) And fill with some saltwater to which I can still carry.
I will leave the live sand in the tank which will be in the back of the truck. Now the tank will be in the back of the truck and the temperature is like 40-50 here. Will that be okay on the live sand? The fish and rock will be in the truck at a comfortable temperature.
Now I have a power inverter, if i need to plug in a heater or powerhead. Will the fish need the powerhead more or the coral?
I will come home, put fish and water into a rubbermaid container, and plug the powerhead and heater in with the thermometer.
Now for filling the tank with salt water, I can premake the saltwater and have it ready overnight, and fill the tank with all the existing saltwater I brought? OR do I need to bring the 100+ gallons of existing saltwater? Two 55 gallon trash bins filled with water is over 400 pounds. I don't know if I could handle that. Maybe, I can get as many 5 gallons buckets as I can. And bring as much water that way.
Alright, after getting all this home and filling the tank with the live rock and water. I will set all equipment up and let the tank run until clear.
I will buy testing supplies, and test for sg, ammonia, and nitrate. If everything is fine.
I will then acclimate the coral and fish. Than add them to the tank.
Then, everything's done? Am I forgeting anything? What else do I need to do?
Thanks everyone for their input.
 
mie

mie

Active Member
Sounds great. If you can get 5 bucket fulls of the established tank water that should be good. The fish and the corals will be fine no neeed for power heads or heaters, if you want you can, you will problably blow a fuse in your truck if you plug a heater into a power inverter. Fish and coral travel just fine when you order them online. keep the vehicle temp around 75 to 80 degrees.
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
You can buy buckets at any big hardware store. With a tank as large as yours your best bet would be a garbage can to make your saltwater in. You do not need to use water from an established tank, nitrifying bacteria doesn't live in the water column it colonizes porous structures (rock and sand etc).
 
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